Babysitting
by meemzter
Summary: Trina is throwing a party, and Tori asks Beck to accompany Jade.  Fluff.  Humor.  A little shmoopy.  Reviews are appreciated.


"Hey Beeeeeeck" Tori said, in a way that he knew meant she wanted something.

Beck pretended not to notice her tone and just replied, "Hey Tori, whatsup?" He leaned against the lockers behind him, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

"So," Tori said, intertwining her hands in front of her, bouncing casually towards him, her voice ridiculously sweet, "are you coming to Trina's party tonight?"

Beck shook his head quickly and shrugged. "Can't."

Tori's demeanor changed instantly, and she dropped the act, going from overly friendly to dramatically whiny, "Oh, come on, why not?" she pleaded.

"Made plans with my dad a few weeks ago."

"Beck, please, please come. Cancel on your dad, I'll make it up to him, I promise."

Beck laughed at the idea of Tori doing a favor for his dad and shook his head again. "Tori, I can't, sorry." He smiled at her in amusement. "What's the big deal, anyway?"

Tori looked resigned but was still pouting a little bit. "Well you know, it's Trina's party."

Beck nodded, Trina being present at an event was never a good place to start.

"And…Jade's going to be there."

Beck bit back a laugh. "Really? She's going to a party thrown by your sister? _Willingly_?"

"She said something about wanting to watch me suffer." Tori pouted.

"Ahhhh. Makes sense." He paused, "So what does this have to do with me?"

Tori crossed her arms, and leaned back against the lockers next to him, so that they were both facing the wall. She made a clicking sound with her tongue, like she wasn't sure where to start. "Well…you know how Jade can be a little…_difficult_ sometimes…when you're around?"

Beck nodded. "Believe me. I know."

"Well…" Tori paused to look at him, "imagine what she's like when you're not."

Beck laughed out loud. "Are you asking me to come and _babysit_ my girlfriend?"

"Please?" Tori pleaded, sporting her most convincing pout.

Beck sighed, Tori was _really_ good at pouting. "Fine." He raised his arms in surrender. "But you still have to make it up to my dad." he said, pointing a finger at Tori as she jumped with excitement.

"Thank you!" she said, hugging him. "Thank you! I will!" she clapped her hands and then bounced away towards the bathroom. "7:00!" she called behind her, and Beck just shook his head in response.

"So…I heard you're going to Trina's thing tonight." Beck said into the phone. He was in his RV, savoring his last few hours before the party, which he was dreading more and more the closer it got.

Jade chuckled. "Yeah, Cat asked me to go, and I figured watching that _disaster_ of an evening self-implode would at least be mildly entertaining."

"Well, do you want me to pick you up?"

"I thought you had plans with your dad."

"I did," Beck said casually, "but Tori _begged_ me to come. She was kinda desperate."

There was a pause, and Beck knew that if he could see Jade, the building fury would be evident on her face.

"What." she said, in a dangerously cool tone.

"So, 6:45? Sound good?"

"You cancelled plans on your dad…" her voice got louder with each word, "because _Tori_ asked you to?"

Beck rolled his eyes at her jealousy. "Yeah it's a funny story, actually." he teased.

"Oh, I'm sure it's _hilarious_." Jade hissed.

Beck continued, not at all intimidated by Jade's threatening tone. "In fact, it was all because of you."

Jade didn't seem to be expecting that. There was a pause and then an extremely eloquent: "Huh?"

"Apparently…" Beck continued, probably enjoying himself _way_ too much, "Tori thinks that you _behave_ better, when I'm around."

"What?" Jade snapped. "Oh, for her sake, I _hope _you are joking."

"I'll see you at 6:45…" Beck said, hanging up the phone with a grin.

Jade refused to speak to Beck the entire drive to the Vega household, and he wasn't really surprised. When they arrived, they were met at the door by a glowing Trina, "Hi, Tori's friends!" she greeted enthusiastically, eyeing them up and down. Her face fell a little, and she looked confused, staring towards their hands.

"Ummm," she pursed her lips, "where are the gifts?" Her voice was high-pitched and sweet.

"Gifts?" Beck asked.

"It's not your birthday." Jade said, monotone.

Trina let out a huff, crossing her arms. "Uhh, I'm throwing a party?" She rolled her eyes at their blank expressions. "The polite thing, is to bring _gifts_?"

Beck and Jade continued to stare back at her. Finally Beck shrugged. "Sorry."

"Oh, whatever," Tina whined, shaking her head and waving them inside, "just come in."

Tori came up to them, smiling brightly. "Hey guys…" she said, "thanks for coming." and she gave Beck a very obvious wink. "Oh," she continued, laughing, "Beck, how does your dad want me to pay him back?"

Beck grinned, and ran a hand through his hair, "Um, he actually doesn't." Beck tilted his head, "He hasn't really forgotten the time you sikked a vicious dog on him in my RV."

"I thought he blamed _me_ for that." Jade interjected.

Beck nodded. "Oh, he does. He's an equal opportunity blamer."

"Tori!" Trina shouted from the kitchen. She was pointing towards something being concocted in a blender, which looked like an imminent disaster. "I..need..your..help." Trina yelled, pointing at the blender with each word.

"Gotta go." Tori said grudgingly, marching off towards the kitchen.

Beck slung his arm around Jade's shoulder. "Shall we?"

Jade shrugged in response. "Whatever."

They walked over to the couch in the middle of the living room and plopped down on it, watching the surprisingly large crowd of Hollywood Arts students gathered around the room.

They sat in silence for a while, and then Jade finally muttered. "I'm thirsty."

Beck popped up. "Soda?" he asked. Jade nodded, and Beck walked off towards the kitchen. "And make sure there's-"

"-no ice." he finished for her, and he looked back to see Jade smiling.

After he got them both drinks, he headed back to see a distraught looking Cat sitting on the couch next to Jade.

"And then I think he just…" Cate said, her voice quavering, "stole my on-the-go juicer!"

Jade's face was completely blank. "Oh. No." Jade remarked, with absolutely no conviction.

"He's my brother. I'd never steal his on-the-go juicer." Cat said, pouting her lips out a little. "Jade, what should I do?"

"Ask for a better life?" Jade snapped.

"Jade." Cat whined. "You're so mean to me!" and she huffed off towards Robbie and Rex who were talking to one another in the corner.

Beck slid back down next to Jade and raised his eyebrows. "I leave you alone for one minute…" he teased.

"Shut-up." Jade took her drink from him, and gulped half of it down.

The party continued, and they spoke briefly to Andre, and then made-out on the couch to pass the time.

A few hours in, Beck got up to use the restroom and then talked to a much happier Cat, who had remembered that her on-the-go juicer had not been stolen, but that she had lent it to a homeless man several weeks ago.

By the time he found his way back to Jade, she was yelling, and some small freshman girl was headed quickly away from Jade, in tears.

"That's right. Walk away!" Jade bellowed. The girl continued crossing to the other side of the room, and Beck put his hand on his forehead before half-heartedly calling, "Sorry…about…_her_."

"Don't apologize to _that_." Jade sneered, crossing her arms, sitting back down on the couch.

"And what did the underlings do to offend thee, this time?" Beck asked.

"She molested my shoe!" Jade exclaimed.

Beck sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder, "and did she do it on _purpose_?" he said, his tone condescending.

"Why does that matter?" Jade looked at him like he was crazy.

"Jade."

"I just don't see-"

"Come on."

"She should have been watching-"

"You should apologize."

"Why do you always-"

"OK." Beck practically yelled, and they came out of their fast-paced bickering fest, each taking a deep breath.

Jade lifted a leg and let it fall in between Beck's, while he twirled her hair in his finger, their physical proximity a sharp contrast to the argument they'd just had.

"God," Beck sighed, "maybe you _do_ need a babysitter."

Jade dropped her jaw dramatically. "Is _that_ what Vega said to you?"

"Every time I walk away," Beck held his hands palm up out in front of him, "it ends with someone crying."

"I have made _one_ girl cry." Jade protested. "And _she _deserved it."

"And Cat." Beck added.

"There were no actual tears." Jade griped.

"And _Robbie_."

Jade rolled her eyes. Earlier in the evening Beck had gone with Andre to save Tori from some sort of meltdown that Trina was having, and when he came back, he found Jade deep in an argument with Rex. It ended with her pouring soda down the front of Robbie's favorite Canadian sweater.

"It is not my fault that the boy grew a _puppet_ instead of a backbone."

"I am a babysitter." Beck realized with a laugh. "I hang around, cleaning up your messes, apologizing for you…"

"Well if it's such a _burden_," Jade said, standing up, "then feel free to relieve yourself of duty." She turned and stormed towards the door.

Beck was right behind her. "I never said it was a burden." They had made it out to Tori's front porch, and Jade was still moving. Beck reached out to grab her by the arm, forcing her to turn and look at him. "I _like_ apologizing for you." and he smiled at her, despite the death glare she was aiming at him.

Jade had stopped walking, but was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something.

"I like apologizing for you," Beck repeated, "because it makes you feel like your mine."

Jade rolled her eyes. "So, what? I'm your responsibility? God, you really do think you're my babysitter don't you?"

Beck took a step towards her. "Yes. No." he ran his fingers through his hair. "You are my responsibility, just like I'm yours." He shrugged. "I'm not your babysitter…more like…your translator."

Jade had softened somewhat, though her arms remained firmly crossed against her chest. "Translator." she repeated skeptically.

"Yeah." Beck said, taking advantage of her momentary lapse in anger to walk behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. "Because no one understands you like I do." He said into her neck, putting on his corniest voice.

"Shut-up." Jade laughed, placing her hand on top of his.

"Oh, you liked that, didn't you?" Beck joked. "No one understands you like I do." He repeated, lowering his voice a few octaves, and sounding altogether ridiculous.

"Beck. You really need to shut up." but he could feel her grinning.

"Oh, baby" he said, making his voice as deep as possible, "I love you, baby." And the argument at least momentarily resolved, he started to push them towards his car, still locked in one another's embrace.

Beck whispered ridiculous things in his ridiculous voice all the way home, and was delighted to find that Jade, despite herself, couldn't stop giggling.


End file.
